Supermarket accused of 'taking the mick' with price hikes is now third cheapest behind Lidl and Aldi

A supermarket that was heavily criticised by shoppers over price hikes has become third cheapest in our weekly comparison.

For almost a year now we've been monitoring prices of the same eight essentials at the main six supermarkets. And for the majority of that time it's been Morrisons taking the unfortunate title of 'most expensive'.

Following weeks of continuous price hikes, it was accused of 'laughing at customers' and 'taking the mick'. But in recent weeks it's been climbing back up the chart, which has had Asda in the bottom spot since the end of January - a spot it retains this week, with its bill of £12.04.

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And now Morrisons has found itself in the best position for a long time, in third place behind budget stores Lidl and Aldi.

The bill for both Tesco (£11.91) and Sainsbury's (£11.87) is now more than the retailer's £11.77 after the latter raised the price of mince from £1.99 to £2.19 as part of its Aldi Price Match.

As well as the 500g pack of mince, our comparison looks at the prices of a two-pint bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, a pack of chicken breasts, tea bags, coffee, beans and butter.

Lidl has also increased its mince to £2.19, but is still working out cheapest overall, at £11.58 for the shopping. Aldi is only 2p dearer at £11.60, after putting the price of its cheapest coffee up from £1.85 to £1.89.

The figures come as shoppers have this week been warned that price increases are not ending any time soon.

With grocery inflation continuing to climb during February, reaching a new record high of 17.1%, Kantar Worldpanel reported that the increase over the past 12 months has added a potential £811 to annual